Evangelical Lutheran

Where it comes from

Combination of "Evangelical", which was Martin Luther's adjectival term for his own theology and "Lutheran", which was originally a derogatory adjectival term, soon a noun with repeated usage, used to describe his followers' endorsement of Luther. Later, when the movement split into fractions, the term "Evangelical Lutheran" came to mean the followers of Luther's original teaching. From there it has gradually been shortened back to "Lutheran" as general descriptor for Luther's latter followers, but "Evangelical Lutheran" is still widely used by certain Lutheran church denominations.